CoastersRZ

Some new paint on Viking Fury as seen tonight, September 1, 2023.

I believe that they typically will keep the same price until at least the end of October. Saying that the prices will increase creates a sense of urgency and would lead people to purchase their passes sooner.

What exactly were the park policy changes for Haunt? Are you referring to the fact that the park calendar lists the park being closed for an hour between the day operations and Haunt? If so, KI`s calendar does not list that same hour of not being open. Haunt is included with your pass, so its not like back in 2000-2002, when Haunt was an extra charge and they cleared the park of guests before letting the Haunt guests in. Although from a security standpoint that could be why they are doing that. Seems like a pain to clear the park and let everyone back in though... There is a reason why KI has not allowed re-entry after a certain time for Haunt.

And remember that with KI being open until the end of December for Winterfest, it makes logistics with these new attractions challenging, as they have essentially three and a half months with the park completely closed to do the major work.

Runaway Reptar/Flying Ace Aerial Chase has only ever operated with one train. If you have a second train, there would be a need for a storage track in the even one of the trains is non-operational for a day. I do not expect we will ever see a second train on it.

I agree about switching the exit/entrance set up. Seems to be a lot of crossing traffic with the only open metal detectors after 4pm on the left, but then you have to cross over those exiting. Seems like those should be reversed to avoid some of the cross over traffic. I agree, on several of my visits, this ride has had horrid lines because they are running so few cars and have so few people staffing. Same goes for Flume when they load one side. With Fastlane, that can turn a seemingly short line into a long, slow moving line. Earlier this year, I literally saw Flume one sided, while two employees were picking weeds below the final lift.

Agreed. It would be a little better if there was signage communicating this stuff to the guests. I mean, I remember when all rides used to be open all the hours the park was open. Just makes for a less enjoyable experience. Certainly doesn`t seem like they are making memories worth repeating. Wait, that might be the wrong park/chain...

I understand staffing and budgets, but it is a bit concerning to see so many rides closing early. My son was devastated tonight when we went to Flume (Race for your Life Charlie Brown), and it was closed at 9:08pm. I also noticed that train has been closing by 8pm. I get that some of these rides do not have large draws as the sun goes down. But they need to at least post signs at the rides saying that these rides will close early. Just seems like they are out to save a quick buck. I don`t like them closing a portion of Planet Snoopy early either. And if you want to get a drink with your drink plan after 9pm, forget about it. The drink stand in front of the Tower was closed by 9pm. The coke marketplace was open and packed tonight, but none of the Freestyle machines had any ice in them. Load times at Viking Fury were terrible tonight because they only had two operators, instead of the usual three, so the person in the drive box had to go down the steps after locking the restraints, and then go back up after checking the restraints. And Adventure Express has been down to one train operation this week. Ride operations just seems to be a bit off right now.

Separate ticketed event, but at least on the Kings Dominion page, all Gold and Platinum 2023 and 2024 passes include admission into the daytime events and the Haunt event. Maybe they are trying to have different tickets for the daytime stuff and then for the evening event? Not sure if they will clear the park or what. Carowinds` haunt is already a separate ticketed event, that your season pass does not give you admission to. Same holds true for Knott`s Scary Farm. They are actually selling a pass again this year that gives unlimited admission to Knott`s Scary Farm. I don`t see Kings Island making pass holders pay separately for Haunt. It has been included with a pass since 2003. That would be hard to upsell it to pass holders after being included for so long, and it is part of their marketing of the season pass. Seasons of fun. The first years of Fear Fest (2000, 2001 and 2002), it was a separate ticketed event and the crowds were a little smaller. But they also didn`t have all of the rides open. Flat rides like Scrambler, Monster, etc. were not open during Haunt. Back then they had Drop Tower, Delirium and a few other rides open for Haunt.

Don will be missed at the park. But hopefully he will still be a familiar face at the park as a guest. I hope Coasterstock continues. I haven`t had a chance to attend it the last several years, due to having small kids. My son just recently (Monday July 3rd), crossed the 48" threshold and took his first ride on The Beast. So we may be attending in future years (hopefully?), Good luck Don in your future endeavors. Ride on!

I wasn`t at Kings Island today, but when I was out driving home from some errands, we started killing bugs on our windshield. It sounded like rain drops, we were killing so many of them. This was probably about 5pm. They definitely looked like some kind of gnats.

A couple issues with that. For starters, I believe there is an employee break area/first aid station behind the Subway building, which would have to be relocated somewhere else. Also, the area you noted as Water Coaster, has some fairly steep terrain (it is a valley in that area). Likely unusable/large development costs. Although I do agree that area of the water park could use an attraction, just not sure on the feasibility of building there.

Yes, there is an uphill run from by the Mystic turnaround to almost the Soak City station. Keep in mind that the entrance to Soak City from the parking lot did not exist when the water park first opened. That didn`t come about until the early 2000s, and then was a season pass holder exclusive for several seasons. I agree that the entrance to the water park from the train and dryside could use some sprucing up, although I don`t know how much could really be changed, without removing existing buildings/attractions.

To be fair, they do sometimes staff an extra position on some of the coasters (separator) to manage the merge point between standby and Fastlane, so there are some operating costs associated with it. Not having the station packed in with people does make it easier to get your party on the same train.

I am fairly certain that the water was still present for a few seasons after the ride`s name changed to Congo Falls.

I haven`t had a chance to ride Adventure Express yet. Our son is about a 1/4 inch too short at the moment. We did catch two rides on Cargo Loco today. It was rather difficult to get the barrels spinning too wildly. The operators were saying to spin them counterclockwise. It was difficult to do, but we did manage some spinning. The ride has twelve barrels, and each can seat up to five people, so in theory this ride can hold 60 people. Another great benefit, is those under 42" just need to ride with a supervising adult. That means that our two year old daughter could ride with us! It is one of the few flat rides on that side of the park that she can ride with us on. Huge kudos to KI for installing a ride like that which can be enjoyed by so many people. The queue line isn`t terribly long, but it is long enough and the theming is pretty good. The speakers in the line weren`t playing any music yet. My only real grip with the ride is that the queue area didn`t have any shade over the main queue. There were also a couple of bamboo pickets that were loose on the bottom. The ride operator called those in on our first of two rides. Can`t wait to ride Sol Spin once it opens. Hopefully soon. The whole area is really well done. I love the boat and the other thematic elements that were added around the lake. I can`t wait to see what else Cedar Fair and Kings Island do in future seasons.

Yes, it will be interesting to see if any parks install this incarnation of the standup. Thanks for sharing your reviews. I hope to get back down to Sea World Orlando sometime. Haven`t been since 2010!

And with Carowinds, they aren`t in close competition with another amusement park. Kings Dominion is close to Busch Gardens. Cedar Fair likely saw greater ROI at Carowinds than they did at Kings Dominion. Hence the current state of the two parks.

275 feet is the upper platform. The lower platform is 265 feet.

An update: https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/cincinnati/coney-island-expanding-activities-including-adding-pickleball-courts?fbclid=IwAR25DczbIMc--n0ZQra9Fxn9RiRbxsKfd2ix4ULk8bIGYwJbOXELtd-1Egs

The problem with a second gate is that then you have to staff that additional entrance. Look at Carowinds. They have a second entrance to the park located near Afterburn. Not sure if they still open that entrance much anymore. I know when I first visited Carowinds back in 2001, that was the entrance that we used.

Hmmm. Before we moved last year this was the Kroger we always frequented. Now we still sometimes visit this Kroger, about once a month. I have never seen any unruly behavior in my visits there.

Its been years since I have been to the Dayton location. The Dayton location is much bigger than the Cincinnati location. The last time I was at the Cincinnati location it wasn`t very busy, granted it was on a Friday about 2pm several years back. I think they are far enough apart to not overlap their markets. I don`t think FECs draw from as big of a footprint as your regional amusement park.

I was surprised to hear this earlier today. I wonder if current management of Scene 75 is staying on with the new company. I have only visited the Dayton location once, and have been to the Cincinnati location (located off of 275 in Milford) a couple of times. Definitely fun places to visit. Though it seems like they might have more of an appeal in the winter months.

They sold the facility, but per the article, Cedar Fair still owns the land that the park sits on.